The Software Engineering Manager for this role will provide engineering leadership across three core, foundational areas that underpin Kroger’s digital platforms. First, the manager will oversee the Search Core domain, which owns the data lakes and data loaders that serve as the backbone of our search platforms. Second, they will lead our A/B testing tools, enabling experimentation and experience optimization across banner. Finally, the role will guide the Frameworks team, responsible for maintaining KTD KroGo and shared Java frameworks that accelerate development through standardized patterns and reusable components. Together, these areas form critical platform capabilities that support scale, innovation, and engineering excellence.
Direct and manage the software design, development, implementation and support of multiple teams and/or their supporting processes to meet organizational expectations. Lead the strategic direction and function as a liaison across the Technology and Digital organization, and business stakeholders. Lead and uphold the associate continuous high-performance process. Demonstrate the company’s core values of respect, honesty, integrity, diversity, inclusion and safety
Responsibilities- Partner & collaborate with engineering peers, product management, product design, & third parties (as appropriate) to prioritize deliverables providing the greatest value to our customers and business- Hire & manage engineers & application system analysts; assign, direct, & evaluate their work/performance by writing performance reviews & providing feedback
- Present practical input for strategic technology decisions; synthesize complex problems & present simple, practical, reliable, & maintainable solutions
- Drive strategic alignment of system specifications, associate requirements, & project schedules of technology services
- Responsible for systems performance & resolution of production incidents, which may require 24hr/7day week coverage
- Work with Product Management to prioritize, scope & plan business milestones
- Support preparation of technology roadmap & provide input to business roadmap
- Monitor new technologies & trends within the industry
- Improve technology agility facilitating the use & creation of Cloud Services, REST APIs, design patterns, Behavior Driven Development (BDD), Test Driven Design (TDD), Continuous Integration (CI)/Continuous Deployment (CD), version control, proper environment releases, etc.
- Drive root-cause analysis of critical business & production issues to prevent future occurrences as well as review/approve potential solutions
- Establish performance standards & procedures, regulatory compliance & conduct ongoing performance audits & take action
- Must be able to perform the essential job functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation
Qualifications
Minimum
- Bachelor's Degree computer science, information systems, or related technical field
- High School Diploma or GED
- Any understanding of & practice in agile software development & management
- Any experience/familiarity with RDBMS, NoSQL, Big Data technologies
- Any experience with web/app containers such as Apache/Tomcat, Jboss or related skill
- Any direct technical experience in related disciplines
- Any extensive experience building/deploying services and/or applications using: Java, Spring/Spring Boot, REST APIs, Swagger, Node, Azure, GitHub, CI/CD, Kubernetes
- 2+ years of experience in eCommerce, retails systems or high transaction software solutions
- 5+ years of experience in administrative management of technical teams and/ or extended staff
- Excellent communication, collaboration, reporting, analytical & problem-solving skills
- Strong leadership & negotiation skills with business & technical group
Desired
- Master's Degree computer science, information systems, or related technical field
- Any experience developing and/or architecting front-end experiences � React, Swift (native iOS), Kotlin (native Android)
- Any of experience developing and/or architecting cloud-hosted backend services with Azure and/or GCP
- 2+ years of experience in leading engineering teams of 5+ engineers & coaching, mentoring individuals to grow their career
- Proven experience managing mixed teams of full‑time engineers (FTEs) and contractors, including onboarding, performance management, and day‑to‑day execution.
- Experience managing vendor and partner relationships, including setting expectations, ensuring delivery quality, and aligning external teams with internal priorities.
- Demonstrated ability to define clear team goals and success metrics, while also tailoring objectives to support individual growth, career development, and engagement.
- Strong partnership experience with Product Management and Product Leadership, including co‑owning roadmaps, sequencing work, and balancing near‑term delivery with long‑term platform investments.
- Hands‑on experience prioritizing engineering excellence, including managing technical debt, improving system quality, and making deliberate tradeoffs to maintain platform health.
- Track record of identifying and removing blockers, reducing bottlenecks, and improving team throughput and predictability in complex environments.
- Ability to lead teams through competing priorities while maintaining focus on reliability, scalability, and business outcomes.
- Drive engineering standards, governance, and CI/CD practices across multiple teams will be well positioned for success. Strong cross‑functional leadership skills, experience modernizing or evolving platform foundations, and prior work in retail, eCommerce, or high‑traffic consumer systems are beneficial for balancing platform stability, developer velocity, and business impact.
Nice‑to‑have experience for this role includes exposure to large‑scale search or relevancy platforms, experimentation and A/B testing systems, and ownership of shared internal platforms or frameworks. Familiarity with data‑intensive systems such as data lakes, ingestion pipelines, and event‑driven architectures, along with cloud‑native and distributed system design (e.g., GCP), would be valuable. Experience enabling data science and ML teams through platforms and tooling—rather than direct model development—is also a strong plus.
What you’ll receive from us:
The Kroger Family of Companies offers comprehensive benefits to support your Associate Well-Being, including Physical, Emotional, Financial and more. We'll help you thrive, with access to:
- A wide range of healthcare coverage, including affordable, comprehensive medical, dental, vision and prescription coverage, through company plans or collective bargaining agreement plans.
- Flexible scheduling in full- and part-time roles with paid time off, including holiday and sick pay based on eligibility and length of service.
- Emotional and financial support with free counseling through our Employee Assistance Program and free, confidential financial tools and coaching with Goldman Sachs Ayco.
- Valuable associate discounts on purchases, including food, travel, technology and so much more.
- Up to $21,000 in tuition reimbursement over your career, through our industry-leading Continuing Education program.
- Vast potential for growth, through an abundance of industry-leading training programs and diverse career pathways.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a related technical field
- High school diploma or GED
- Understanding and practice of agile software development and management
- Experience or familiarity with RDBMS, NoSQL, and Big Data technologies
- Experience with web or application containers such as Apache Tomcat or JBoss
- Direct technical experience in related disciplines
- Extensive experience building and deploying services or applications using Java, Spring or Spring Boot, REST APIs, Swagger, Node.js, Azure, GitHub, CI/CD, and Kubernetes
- At least 2 years of experience in eCommerce, retail systems, or high-transaction software solutions
- At least 5 years of experience in administrative management of technical teams or extended staff
- Excellent communication, collaboration, reporting, analytical, and problem-solving skills
- Strong leadership and negotiation skills with business and technical groups
- Master's degree in computer science, information systems, or a related technical field
- Experience developing or architecting front-end experiences using React, Swift, or Kotlin
- Experience developing or architecting cloud-hosted backend services with Azure or GCP
- At least 2 years leading engineering teams of five or more engineers and coaching or mentoring individuals
- Experience managing mixed teams of full-time engineers and contractors, including onboarding and performance management
- Experience managing vendor and partner relationships
- Experience defining team goals, success metrics, individual development objectives, and engagement strategies
- Partnership experience with Product Management and Product Leadership on roadmaps and sequencing
- Experience managing technical debt, improving system quality, and making engineering tradeoffs
- Track record of removing blockers and improving team throughput and predictability
- Ability to lead teams through competing priorities while maintaining reliability, scalability, and business outcomes
- Experience driving engineering standards, governance, and CI/CD practices across multiple teams
- Experience with large-scale search or relevancy platforms, experimentation systems, shared platforms, or frameworks
- Familiarity with data lakes, ingestion pipelines, distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, and event-driven architectures
- Experience enabling data science or machine learning teams through platforms and tooling
Kroger Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Kroger and has not been reviewed or approved by Kroger.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage in many union divisions has been protected or improved in recent contracts, with some regions avoiding proposed cuts and others expanding spousal coverage and strengthening short‑term disability. Mental‑health resources and 24/7 access are also emphasized, supported by third‑party recognition in recent years.
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Retirement Support — Retirement options include a company 401(k) with a match and, in many union roles, access to pension or variable annuity plans that have been stabilized through recent agreements. Match levels and pension participation vary by division and role, so specifics require local confirmation.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Education assistance through “Feed Your Future” offers substantial tuition support for both part‑ and full‑time associates, alongside free financial coaching. Perks such as associate discounts and periodic Boost membership offers add incremental value to total rewards.
Kroger Insights
What We Do
At Kroger, we believe no matter who you are or how you like to shop, everyone deserves affordable, easy-to-enjoy, fresh food. This idea is embodied in our simple tagline—Fresh for Everyone™. Kroger ranks as one of the world’s largest retailers. We are nearly half a million associates across 2,800 stores in 35 states operating two dozen grocery retail brands and 34 manufacturing and 44 distribution locations, all dedicated to living our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit™. Together, we serve more than 11 million customers daily in our stores and online through convenient e-commerce options like pickup, ship and delivery, serving America through food inspiration and uplift. Customers love Our Brands, including the popular Kroger®, Private Selection® and Simple Truth® brands. Our own manufacturing plants produce many of Our Brands products, including breads, dairy products, meat and thousands of grocery items. We also believe in and are committed to doing our part to create #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025.
